BSC 1005 Sample exam questions for Plants and People
(from Dr. Anderson’s lectures and text)
  1. Which of the following plant families contains many poisonous plants but relatively few edible ones: (A) carrot, (B) heath, (C) pea, (D) tomato, (E) all of the families have many edibles plants as well as poisonous ones.
  2. Coffeeweed, Wisteria, and Acacia are members of which family: (A) heath, (B) tomato, (C) carrot, (D) pea, (E) buttercup.
  3. In which one of the following is the poisoning agent something other than an alkaloid: (A) monkshood, (B) water hemlock, (C) strychnine, (D) belladonna, (E) all of the above are examples of alkaloid poisons.
  4. Breadfruit was originally grown in (native to): ( A) Polynesia, (B) South America, (C) West Indies, (D) South Africa, (E) India.
  5. Which one of the following is native to the New World (the Americas) but is a serious weed in parts of the Old World (or Eastern Hemisphere): (A) Cannabis, (B) St. John's Wort, (C) dandelion, (D) cactus.
  6. Man's use of willow and Datura in medicine and related fields most appropriately applies to the concept of: (A) apomixis, (B) diffusionism, (C) inventionism, (D) doctrine of signatures.
  7. Which of the following is not a member of the pea family: (A) soybean, (B) Wisteria, (C) precatorybean, (D) castorbean, (E) peanut.
  8. Durum wheat (used in macaroni) has a chromosomal status termed: (A) diploid, (B) triploid, (C) tetraploid, (D) hexaploid.
  9. The least significant problem related to monoculture is: (A) reduction of genetic variability, (B) reduction of dietary variety, (C) simplification of ecosystem, (D) increased cost of technology.
  10. Which of the following conditions is most critical for studies of dendrochronology: (A) hardwood, (B) softwood, (C) sensitive rings, (D) complacent rings.
  11. The plant that contains emitine for control of amoebic dysentery is: (A) opium poppy, (B) chaulmoogra, (C) ipecac, (D) Datura, (E) belladonna.
  12. Which of the following statements is not true about hallucinogenic plants: (A) most come from angiosperms (flowering plants), (B) more kinds (species) occur in the New World natively, (C) those of the Old World are more widely used, (D) they are used more now than in past times, (E) all the above are true about the plants.
  13. Which one of the following comes from a plant latex: (A) resin, (B) quinine, (C) morphine, (D) copra, (E) plankton.
  14. Chaulmoogra is a medicinal plant originally found in: (A) South Africa, (B) South America, (C) Southeast Asia, (D) Southern Europe, (E) Mexico.
  15. Which one of the following is New World (the Americas) in its origin as a spice plant: (A) cinnamon, (B) cloves, (C) curry, (D) Capsicum or bell pepper, (E) all of the above are Old World in origin.
  16. Which one of the following has alkaloids as its poisonous property: (A) pokeweed, (B) poison hemlock, (C) castorbean, (D) Datura, (E) none of the above have alkaloids as their poisonous property.